Long Live Us
by Apollo and Dionysus
Summary: Nobody could have guessed a group of unusual teenagers would be so intrinsically involved in the Wizarding war, but this is not the story of Dumbledore's Army. Once upon a time, in the same place but another time, there was another young army. They were the Order of the Phoenix, and this is their story.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

This is a story of fate.

First and foremost, you should know that there are three kinds of fate. The first is predetermined fate. What will your name be? What will you look like? Who will raise you? Where will you be from? These are determined by your parents and their parents all the way back to the dawn of time, making the odds of existence almost impossible.

The second is determined by your actions. Will you follow the path laid out for you, or will you rebel? Will you choose this way or that? It's strange how any small desicion could completely change your course.

The third kind of fate, now that's the tricky one. Fate can often be cruel when she takes hold of people's lives. The problem with the world is that it is round; if you head away from something and don't stop, eventually you'll come right back round to it. And that's how fate works with extraordinary people.

This story is about a group extraordinary people. You know their story; at least, you know how it ends. This is the story of how the actions of a group of young people shaped an entire world.

It started many years ago with four boys.


	2. Chapter one - A new start

_September 1st, 1975_

The halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were completely silent, eerily so. The only sounds were the rain softly pattering against the walls and windows of the castle, splashing against the lake, and the quiet chattering of the portraits and ghosts. A gentle breeze rustled the thin tendrils of the Whomping Willow, the newest addition to the school grounds, coloured golden by the early autumn sunshine that broke through the grey clouds. All was peaceful, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. But this silence was not to last.  
They stampeded into the Great Hall all at once; from second to seventh year, all four Houses of young witches and wizards. The Gryffindors and Slytherins shoved eachother to make their ways through the crowd, pitted against eachother even so early on into the year. Almost all members of the two opposing houses had a strong animosity toward eachother, but there were two who did not. They walked arm-in-arm, her eyes as green as his tie and her hair as red as her own. They split up to go to their own tables, and three burly Slytherins joined the sallow-skinned Severus.  
Lily sat at the Gryffindor table, finding herself amongst her classmates Dorcas Meadowes and Alice Fortescue. They were in appearance polar opposites. Alice was short and stocky, with short curly hair and round pink cheeks, whilst Dorcas was tall and thin with a dark complexion and long, silky hair (Though thanks to the rain it was now frizzy). Though they looked different, they may as well have been stuck together at the hips with a permanent sticking charm, for they were inseperable.  
"Lily!" Alice trilled. "I hear you're a Prefect now, that's marvellous!"  
"It's wonderful," Dorcas interjected cheerfully. "I knew you'd get chosen. Have you seen the boys?"  
"Thank you," Lily said with a proud grin. "I've not seen them since we were on the train.. Where are they?"

The rain was hammering down by that time. Through the darkness and the fog, four boys approached Hogwarts castle. They were known as the Marauders, and they were made up of these four: Sirius Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin.  
James and Sirius were a double act of dark-haired chaos whose pranks were reknowned at Hogwarts by both student and teacher alike. They worked as one, two arms holding wands connected to the same mind it often seemed. They were brothers in all but blood, and probably related somehow thus is the manner of pureblood families.  
"God damn it, Sirius- why didn't we just take the carriages?" James asked, squinting as rain dropped on him from the sky, from his black hair, obscuring his view through his glasses.  
"Because... Because it's a good opportuinity to explore this area. You never know what we might find to add to the map," Sirius said wisely, before shaking his long hair in a very canine-like fashion, splashing droplets of water all around him.  
"We're missing the feast!" Said Peter Pettigrew in a voice that conveyed sincere sorrow. Innocent blue eyes, a boyish face and short stature gave many the impression that Peter was much younger than he really was. Because of this, he had been mistaken for a first year in every year so far.  
"It's only a quarter past six, Dumbledore'll be starting his speech now. We've still got time to eat, although I don't think he'll be too happy when we walk in late." Said Remus, the final member of the group, as they ran up to the castle trying not to slip on the muddy grass. Remus was a boy of many secrets, and one of those secrets was that he was the mastermind of many of the marauders' best pranks.  
When strange things happened (more often than not to Slytherins, in particular Severus Snape), the culprits were of course the marauders. It would be Sirius's idea, Remus would work out how they would pull it off, James would do the spellwork and Peter would keep a look out. The Marauders were reknowned throughout Hogwarts for being silly, merely four mischievious boys. In actuality it ran so much deeper than that. Their creativity, wit and intelligence was often overlooked due to lost Housepoints - and that worked just fine for them.  
*

"Before we begin our delicious banquet," Professor Albus Dumbledore began as he addressed the students in front of him. "I would like to say a few words regarding the events that occured over the summer, caused by the dark wizard known as Lord Voldemort. It is of paramount importance that-

"Hello, Hogwarts!" A jovial voice from the other side of the hall announced.  
The Great Hall doors swang open to reveal the speaker had been Sirius who was of course accompanied by James, Remus and Peter; after walking from Hogsmeade in the pouring rain, they now looked like they'd been for a swim in the Black Lake. The caretaker Filch was trailing after them, brandishing a mop. The entire school watched wide-eyed as the four boys walked the length of the Great Hall, James and Sirius striding confidently, Remus and Peter less so but all of them dripping water everywhere. If looks could kill, Sirius Black would be dead thrice-over from the glares he was recieving from Lily, Severus and Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore however looked pleasantly amused and waited until the boys were seated before continuing his speech.  
"As I was saying," Dumbledore paused to clear his throat. "In troubled times such as these, it is of paramount importance that you remember this; though the wizarding community is at war, within these walls we remain united."  
"Dumbles seems cheery today, doesn't he?" James muttered.  
"Absolutely gleeful." Sirius responded, but he couldn't blame Dumbledore for being so solemn. There was no safer place in the world than within the walls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, yet outside of the students' safe sanctuary the situation was getting worse by the minute. For during the summer the Wizarding world had officially announced that the 'situation' they were in was war, and it was shaping out to be one of the worst Britain had seen. A civil war shaking the country to it's core, yet most folks didn't even know it was happening right under their very noses. Of course the muggles had noticed the mysterious lights in the sky, the suspicious 'accidents', the gloomy atmosphere caused by an increase in Dementors.  
The death toll was mounting by the day - young and old, men and women, rich and poor, muggles and magicalfolk alike - war doesn't care who you are, war doesn't care what and whom you're leaving behind should you die. If you didn't fit their ideals or weren't willing to help the Death Eaters and their New World Order then your life was worth nothing in the cruel sand serpentine eyes of Lord Voldemort. The Daily Prophet was the harbinger of bad news, a constant stream of vexation and despair. Every day the bold headlines spoke of death, destruction and panic.  
Last year had been child's play; this year, everything they knew was about to change.


	3. Two Secret Meetings

In the darkest corner of the castle, a young man waited. He had specified for his Housemates to meet him at 9pm sharp, and as a distant clock chimed nine times he was not dissapointed.

"Why are we meeting here?" The youngest of the group of six asked.

"Because I don't want to be overheard." Responded Evan Rosier, a seventh-year with a chiselled face. "Who did you tell you were coming?"

"Nobody, like you said."

"Rosier, your flair for dramatics is all very well, but perhaps you ought to tell us what this is all about?" Severus Snape asked scathingly.

"Of course, Severus. I brought you here to show you..._ this_." Rosier rolled up his left sleeve to reveal a jet-black tattoo of a snake entwined with a skull. The watching students gasped in awe.

"What is that?" Asked Mulciber.

"The Dark Mark. It's the brand he gives his loyal followers, his Death Eaters." Rosier responded smugly.

"You've met Him? What's He like in person?"

Rosier chose his words carefully. "Extraordinary. Although that goes without saying... When you stand in front of Him, you can almost feel His incredible power." Like the others, he spoke of the Dark Lord with reverence as if he were a god. In the eyes of so many young purebloods, he may as well have been one. "He personally asked me to try and recruit people, but to be cautious. I'm not going to go shouting in the Great Hall if anyone wants to join the Death Eaters. Which is why I have brought you five here. Avery, Mulciber, Wilkes, Black, Snape. Respectable pureblood names." Rosier was not aware that one of those was not pureblood at all. "It is up to our generation to cleanse the filth that is polluting our family trees."

"_My_ family certainly doesn't have any filth in it," Said Regulus Black a little pompously.

"Are you quite sure about that, Regulus? Your older brother hangs around with filth. In fact, I've heard rumours that-"

"Sirius is a fool, that's hardly my fault. There's one in every family." Regulus said sternly interrupting Snape.

"He ought not to befriend people below his status such as Pettigrew, Lupin, Macdonald and Evans. Scum like that don't deserve to be at Hogwarts." Said the mention of Evans Severus looked for a moment like he might pipe up again, but changed his mind.

"If I'd had a brother like that, I'd disown him." Said Mulciber.

"I'm surprised you haven't already, given your family's track record." Said Snape. "Did your own cousin not run away with a mudblood?"

"She's not part of my family any more." Regulus sounded much more certain about this than he felt. He would never admit to missing his cousin Annie - especially not to these people, whom he was trying to impress. "My Mother blasted Andromeda off of the family tree, I saw her do it. She's no cousin of mine."

"I think you should talk to Sirius... Do some persuading. Show him the right side to be on before it's too late." Said Rosier thoughtfully. "He's certainly talented, but he has the wrong alliances."

"I'll talk to him," Regulus mumbled in response.

"When's Moony back?"

"Eight, I think."

"Good. James, did you get the book?"

"Of course I did." James plonked a very large book titled 'Becoming an Animagus - Volume Seven' onto the desk in front of him. "I nearly got murdered by Filch, but I got it."

"Brilliant. I reckon we should have this down by Christmas." Sirius said smugly.

"You really think so?" Peter asked eagerly.

"Of course. We've spent two years on this already, and that's the last book."

"Yeah, but have you seen the size of this thing?"

But Sirius merely brushed off James' words of reason. "Moony would call that 'light reading'."

"We can't all be werewolf geniuses."

"Very true. Peter, how've you been getting on with stage five?" Asked Sirius whilst James was engrossed in the book.

"I got a tail last time I tried it!" Peter squeaked.

"No way!" Sirius said as he gave Peter an overenthusiastic high-five. In all honesty, Sirius was surprised Peter had gotten so far towards becoming an Animagi. "What kind of tail?"

"It was long and thin. It looked like a worm." Peter replied thoughtfully.

"Alright, that can be your new nickname. I dub thee, Messr. Worm-Tail the marauder!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Worm Tail? That's a rubbish nickname." Sirius was about to respond when all of a sudden, there came a loud "**AAAARRGH!**" From James. What looked like two branches had sprouted out of his head. Sirius and Peter stared at him, and then at eachother before roaring with laughter.

"James- you're a moose!" Peter gasped, clutching his sides.

"I'm a tree!" James moaned, staring at his reflection in the window. "Sirius! How do I get rid of them?" But Sirius merely barked a laugh at him.

"They suit you, mate. I think you should keep-" Sirius stopped short as the door opened and Remus Lupin walked in, staring at James in bemusement.

"Any particular reason you've got antlers?" Remus asked casually. He was used to their shenanigans by now.

"Nope, no reason. Thought it might be a trendy new look."

"And practical, too." Sirius added, taking off his tie and hanging it on an antler. "He could carry our bags to class."

"You two are slightly mad," Remus shook his head at them before walking into the bathroom.

"That was a close one." Said Peter.


End file.
